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US adds 8 defendants in Iran-linked case tied to HBO Bitcoin ransom
The expanded indictment alleges a Bitcoin extortion demand that rose from $5.5 million to about $6 million after the HBO breach, and ties the episode into a broader Mabna prosecution covering attacks on about 8,000 professor accounts.
US prosecutors expanded an eight-year-old hacking case tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by unsealing a 14-count second superseding indictment that adds eight defendants and brings the total charged in the matter to 17, according to CryptoSlate.
Prosecutors link six of the newly added defendants to the 2017 HBO intrusion, which prosecutors say involved an attempted Bitcoin extortion after hackers allegedly stole unreleased television episodes, scripts, and other proprietary material. The government alleges the extortion demand began at $5.5 million and rose to roughly $6 million before the stolen content was leaked online, and it says the new indictment folds that HBO episode into the broader Mabna prosecution rather than alleging a fresh breach.
Beyond HBO, the filing alleges the Mabna network operated as a private company carrying out cyber intrusions on behalf of the IRGC and other Iranian government, university, and private-sector clients. Prosecutors allege the group targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts and compromised about 8,000, stealing at least 31.5 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property.
CryptoSlate also reports that the government alleges additional newly added defendants participated in attacks against private-sector and government organizations that led to more than $20 million in investigation and remediation costs. The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offered rewards of up to $10 million for information leading to the location of five named individuals connected to the case.
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